Active clinical trials for "Radiculopathy"

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of low level laser therapy with and without proprioceptive stimulation on somatosensation, pain and gait parameters in patients with discogenic lumbar radiculopathy. The randomized central trial will recruit patients according to convenience sampling into two intervention groups randomly. One group will receive low level laser therapy and proprioceptive stimulation and other group will receive low level laser therapy alone. Heating packs will be given to both groups.

To date, no consensus exists on which anterior surgical technique is more cost-effective to treat cervical degenerative disc disease (CDDD). The most commonly used surgical treatment for patients with single- or multilevel symptomatic CDDD is anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF). However, new complaints of radiculopathy and/or myelopathy commonly develop at adjacent levels, also known as clinical adjacent segment pathology (CASP). It remains unknown to what extent kinematics, surgery-induced fusion and natural history of disease play a role in its development. Anterior cervical discectomy with arthroplasty (ACDA) is thought to reduce the incidence of CASP by preserving motion in the operated segment. ACDA is often discouraged as the implant costs are higher whilst the clinical outcomes are similar to ACDF. However, preventing CASP might be a reason for ACDA to be a more cost-effective technique in the long-term. In this randomized controlled trial patients will be randomized to receive ACDF or ACDA in a 1:1 ratio. Adult patients with single- or multi-level CDDD and symptoms of radiculopathy and/or myelopathy will be included. The primary outcome is cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of both techniques from a societal perspective. Secondary objectives are the differences in clinical and radiological outcomes between the two techniques, as well as the qualitative process surrounding anterior decompression surgery. All outcomes will be measured at baseline and every 6 months till 4 years postoperatively. High quality evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of both ACDA and ACDF is lacking, to date no prospective trials from a societal perspective exist. Considering the ageing of the population and the rising healthcare costs, the need for a solid clinical cost-effectiveness trial addressing this question is high.

The study is a prospective, first-in-human, multi-center, non-randomized, single-arm study to assess the safety and efficacy of the CEM-Cage used with the CEM-Plate in patients who are appropriate candidates for a 2-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Fifty patients will be enrolled in the study and, after undergoing a 2-level ACDF, will be evaluated at 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of intramuscular betamethasone injection on pain and other clinical parameters in patients with radicular pain due to lumbar disc herniation. The investigators also aimed to determine the effects on electrophysiological findings.

Chronic neuropathic pain is defined as pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. It is highly prevalent, debilitating, and challenging to treat. Current available treatments have low efficacy, high side effect burden, and are prone to misuse and dependence. Emerging evidence suggests that the transition from acute to chronic neuropathic pain is associated with reorganization of central brain circuits involved in pain processing. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a promising alternative treatment that uses focused magnetic pulses to non-invasively modulate brain activity, a strategy that can potentially circumvent the adverse effects of available treatments for pain. RTMS is FDA-approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and migraine, and has been shown to reduce pain scores when applied to the contralateral motor cortex (M1). However, available studies of rTMS for chronic neuropathic pain typically show variable and often short-lived benefits, and many aspects of optimal treatment remain unknown, including ideal rTMS stimulation parameters, duration of treatment, and relationship to the underlying pain etiology. Here the investigators propose to evaluate the efficacy of high frequency rTMS to M1, the region with most evidence of benefit in chronic neuropathic pain, and to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify alternative rTMS targets for participants that do not respond to stimulation at M1. The central aim is to evaluate the pain relieving efficacy of multi-session high-frequency M1 TMS for pain. In secondary exploratory analyses, the investigator propose to investigate patient characteristic that are predictive of responsive to M1 rTMS and identify viable alternative stimulation targets in non-responders to M1 rTMS.

The aim of study will be comparative effectiveness of the 2d and 3d lumbar traction on pain and functional disability in lumbar radiculopathy. This study will be useful for the physiotherapists to know which traction equipment will be more effective for the treatment of the lumbar radiculopathy

This prognostic prediction model will be a reference for the health care professionals in clinical decision making and subsequent outcomes in dealing with patients having sub-acute and chronic neck pain, as well as, it will be a guide regarding therapeutic management and patients' education. Although various studies have evaluated the prognostic factors for individual neck pain conditions or treatment, to author Knowledge, no such prognostic model is available yet that predict the recovery in patients of sub-acute and chronic neck pain when managed conservatively. Therefore, this study is aimed to create a prediction model suggesting the recovery time for neck pain.

C5 palsy (C5P) is a well-known, although rare complication of cervical spine decompression surgery. In severe forms, C5P causes debilitating upper extremity weakness involving the deltoids and/or biceps brachii muscles, ultimately diminishing these patients' quality of life. Furthermore, about half of patients with C5P present with sensory deficits and/or intractable pain in addition to the muscle weakness. Prophylactic bilateral foraminotomy at the C5 level during cervical decompression surgery has been studied recently with the hope that it will minimize the risk of developing a C5 nerve root palsy postoperatively. Although the current literature provides some support for this claim, there are insufficient data establishing this technique as a proven measure to reduce the incidence of C5P. In the present study, we seek to evaluate the effect of bilateral foraminotomy on postoperative C5P incidence rates. Bilateral foraminotomy has been correlated with a reduced risk of developing C5P following cervical decompression surgery, but an identical foraminotomy procedure has never been applied in a randomized manner to all qualifying patients in a study. Additionally, prophylactic foraminotomy has only been prospectively studied during laminoplasty. In the proposed study, bilateral foraminotomy will be randomized to patients receiving cervical decompression surgery (laminoplasty, laminectomy, fusion). This is a multicenter randomized trial, including the following sites: Cleveland Clinic, Columbia University Medical Center, and University of Southern California Spine Center. Patients undergoing cervical decompression surgery will be consented and enrolled if they meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subsequently, incidence of C5P will be monitored to determine efficacy of prophylactic C5 bilateral foraminotomy during cervical decompression.

Patients suffering from sciatica are treated conservatively for the first 8 weeks due to the favourable prognosis. This period is preferably extended up to 14-16 weeks after which patients may opt for surgery. However, patients may experience severe discomfort due to pain in the leg which can lead to decreased physical activity and socio-economic problems. An adequate therapy to alleviate symptoms during this period of 'wait-and-see' is lacking. In this study, patients will be randomized to treatment with transforaminal epidural injections or standard oral pain medication.

Chronic pain affects 1 in 4 US adults, and many cases are resistant to almost any treatment. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) holds promise as a new option for patients suffering from treatment-resistant chronic pain, but traditional approaches target only brain regions involved in one aspect of the pain experience and provide continuous 24/7 brain stimulation which may lose effect over time. By developing new technology that targets multiple, complimentary brain regions in an adaptive fashion, the investigators will test a new therapy for chronic pain that has potential for better, more enduring analgesia.